British Christmas Nosh

Well, it's Christmas Day, and I'm in the tropics, listening to BBC World Service, instead of being in the UK preparing the traditionally biggest meal of the year. (For Christians, or lapsed-Christians, at least!) I am of course not complaining about being under swishing palm trees in SE Asia, but as a bit of nostalgia, and for non-Brits who might have wondered: here are the traditional - and things that have become suspiciously traditional - items UK people eat on Christmas Day!

The Roast Bird (traditional)
This is the big one. The roast would be for either lunch or dinner on Christmas Day - or in my family, because it was such a huge deal, at about 3pm as the sole meal for the day! The eating, drinking and conversation for this feast might actually last for a few hours anyway. Depending on your family size / preference / budget the bird might be turkey, or chicken, or (more rare) goose. Even more rare are pheasant or duck, which are old-fashioned traditional options.

The bird is usually served with stuffing (mixed ingredients that get roasted inside the bird - often apricot and chestnut, or sausage meat and herbs but there are many recipes); roast potatoes; cooked winter vegetables such as Brussels sprouts and carrots; cranberry sauce (for turkey); and gravy. You also might have additions like roasted parsnips, bacon / sausage, and other things depending on your family preference.

This meal is very much an at-home event for families or shared with friends if you are away from your family. We often accompany it with Christmas Crackers (festive items which 'pop' when you pull them, and usually have inside a toy, a joke or proverb and a paper crown). You will thus see many UK Christmas tables surrounded by people wearing ridiculous paper hats. Adults might drink alcohol along with a Christmas roast. 

Christmas Pudding (traditional)
A hot, very rich-tasting dessert made with raisins, candied fruits and other things, which is traditionally steamed over hours before eating (now it can be microwaved - phew!) Often a liqueur such as brandy is poured over the pudding, and then set on fire as it is brought to the table (pretty blue flame!) Christmas pudding is too rich to eat alone, and is normally served with brandy sauce, brandy butter, custard, double cream or sometimes these days, vanilla ice cream. It is usually eaten as dessert to the Christmas roast. 

In old tradition, a coin would be included in the pudding mixture as well. The person who then got the coin in their dessert portion was believed to have good luck for the coming year. I am not sure how popular this custom still is, however. I think it was removed from ready-made puddings perhaps due to health-and-safety concerns for people mistakenly swallowing coins!


Christmas Cake (traditional)
And if you weren't already feeling stuffed enough, there is always Christmas cake for later on. This again is a very rich-tasting fruitcake recipe. Basically, as with the Christmas Pudding, it contains raisins, sultanas, candied peels - ingredients which traditionally would be available during winter months. Christmas cake is usually wrapped in marzipan, and then frosted with white sugar icing. In my opinion, you only need the tiniest slice of this cake as it is a pretty intense experience! 

A Gammon Ham (traditional)
A large cooked ham, often glazed with honey, or brown sugar and cloves. You don't eat it with the Christmas roast, but maybe (if you can manage it) cold as a snack before or after the big Christmas meal, or at other times over the festive break.

Mince pies (traditional)
These are my favourite Christmas food! They are small pastry pies filled with mincemeat - which in this case does not mean 'meat' but a combination of raisins, sultanas, preserved fruits and spices. So they are sweet. The pastry is usually shortcrust, but you can also have puff-pastry varieties. Mince pies are best served hot as a snack or with tea, and are nice with a bit of cream, custard or brandy sauce.

Satsumas/tangerines and clementines (traditional)
I think these were originally introduced to the West as luxury items from Asia in the 18th or 19th century. Little oranges are sometimes also called 'Christmas oranges' due to their popularity as festive treats. And they are possibly the only low-calorie snack that is tradition over the season! 

Chocolate Brazils & Quality Street (new-traditional)
Chocolates in general are ubiquitous at the modern British Christmas. But chocolate-coated nuts (in particular Brazil nuts) have become part of our tradition! I have a feeling this trend might have started in the 1970s, I suspect as a result of clever marketing by Cadbury or other chocolate-brazil vendors! 

Quality Street is a brand of mixed chocolates, wrapped in pretty foils, which often get given and eaten at Christmas in the UK. The wrappers can be kept and lead to creative sessions for children over the holiday too! (Incidentally, looking this up on Wikipedia, I was shocked to note that the purple one and the red cracknel one have now been discontinued - UK children of the 80s will know what I am talking about here!) 

Christmas Cookies (new-traditional)
These are not British custom as far as I know (British people don't say 'cookies' we say 'biscuits' anyway!) They are traditional across a lot of continental Europe and also North America, using either gingerbread or biscuit recipes. But they're now gaining popularity in the UK. Not least as they are pretty and quite fun for a family to bake and decorate. 

Panettone (new-traditional)
This is a traditional Christmas item from Italy. But it has become popular in some parts of the UK as a (much lighter!) alternative to Christmas cake. It is a light, fluffy bread/sponge containing sultanas and candied peels. You will see Panettone on sale over the break in many shops and cafés in the UK. 

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

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Painted bamboo shop blinds & the 'Five Foot Way'

These blinds are a total throwback to my early childhood, when we lived in a medium-sized town in Malaysia. The main streets were festooned with illustrative blinds, painted in a slightly naive style I really love now. The purpose of the blinds was purely practical, however. Firstly they were to provide shade for shoppers along the 'Five Foot Way', and keep the shops themselves cooler. Secondly they doubled as advertising hoardings - for the vendor's name, or a full ad for a sponsoring brand. I clearly remember jolly, painted, toothpaste ads - complete with the product, toothbrush and a smiling lady (wearing a slight beehive and appropriately retro fashion). But the paintings could depict - usually packaged - products of any variety. 

In the old 'Chinese shophouse' style of architecture (which you can see even now throughout South East Asia) each street had rows of ground-level shops, separated from the road by both a deep storm-drain, and a covered walkway, which allowed people to move to-and-fro without expiring in the scorching heat. The walkway was roughly Five Feet wide, hence the name. When I was little, additional vendors would set up tiny stools or stalls selling trinkets and other items in the Five Foot Way itself. I used to love these - there was bling galore, a huge attraction for a small child! 

So anyway, the bamboo blinds hung on the outside of the Five Foot Way, thus shielding people from both tropical sun and rain. Some blinds had 'gaps' cut in them, so that shoppers could pass into the street at intervals. I can't find much information about these features, and so I have no idea when the blinds became popular, or the corresponding painted ads. But I'd make a guess at early-mid 20th century for the ads at least, and judging by the fashions depicted, there are still a few in existence from the 60s and 70s. (If anyone knows more - please comment!) 

It's rare to see originals of these delightful commercials now. I am sure they existed in Singapore as well, but have yet to see one after three years living in the city! You can still find a few in the smaller towns of Malaysia, however. And today's modern 'hipster' movement in places like Penang and Ipoh is also restoring and emulating them in a contemporary context. And although I agree that every city needs to develop and keep economically sound, I still have a great fondness for the old originals that remind me of childhood!

I found these examples on a recent trip to Ipoh in Malaysia. Most are originals, and there's even a sign-maker advertised in one of the photos - I wonder if he, or someone in his family, was once a painter of these lovely old ads?  [You can click on the photos for a larger slideshow - picture formatting is a disaster on Blogger, as usual, sorry!]